There has been an increasing interest in the debate on the value and
relevance using video games for learning. Some of the interest stems from
frustration with current educational methods. However, some of this interest
also stems from the observations of large numbers of children that play video
games. This paper finds that children can learn basic construction skills from
playing a video game called World of Goo. The study also employed novel
eye-tracking technology to measure endogenous eye blinks and eye gaze
fixations. Measures of both these indicators of cognitive processing further
suggested that children in the study learned to play the two video games, World
of Goo and Bad Piggies. Overall, the results of the study provide further
support of the potential for children to learn by playing commercial video
games
